Today's Act was at the bookmobile. Man I love that place!! :D A quick library stop with people who are SO friendly and helpful! They find books for me they think I will like, they are just awesome. We've done act of kindness here in the past, hiding dollar bills in children's books. This year was a lot simpler. Basically I handed them the cash and asked them to apply it to the next person who has library fines. I have felt the pain of library fines and would like to help! :D Not terribly exciting and no pic to share, but there ya go, that's what I did!! :D
In other news we baked the gingerbread ready for decorating today, I cleaned all the dog paw prints off the basement floor and stairs ( I wish it would just FREEZE already instead of making the back yard a mud bath for the dogs to wade in ) and I did a boat load of laundry. Tomorrow I'm not planning on doing much other than decorating the gingerbread houses and family game night. Simples. :D
Hope you had a great day!
Tuesday, December 23
Monday, December 22
Day Twenty Two. Trader Joe's
We had a two thirty appointment today, which I thought was a coincidence because it was at the Orthodontist... (tooth hurty....!) and of course there were a "couple of little errands" that I needed to run as well. ... (The grocery store, Michael's craft store ( AGAIN! ) Trader Joe's.... ( AGAIN! ) and Target, always Target. Jackster needed to buy some gifts so he raided his "Pinky pank" and brought all the cash he had. I, being the morning person, rather than an afternoon or evening person, that I am thought it would be perhaps better to leave early and run our errands BEFORE the Ortho rather than after so we could go straight home in time for me to do chores and clean up a bit. Har har. We did a rather amazing job though I do have to say. We left the house around 12:30, Millie was wearing clothes (albeit no mi' as we had lost them somehow) and Jack was dressed with socks AND shoes ( though he wore his coat UPSIDE DOWN and we found out at bedtime he had worn his jeans OVER his sweats all day long... ) **insert long suffering sigh here**
Anyway, we left at 12:30 and we live a good 15 minutes from the stores. We went first to the grocery store to buy candies to decorate our gingerbread houses (if and when I ever get around to baking the things!) .... the kids had great fun selecting candies to decorate with and Jack always loves putting the things on the scale and printing out the labels. I remembered back to last year when it was very hard for him to remember three numbers to type in and now he did it with very little trouble. Yay! I let them get whatever they chose without whittling about amount or price. They are sensible and only got what they thought they would need and I really appreciated not having to overly monitor the situation! After the grocery store we headed to the Mall to Michael's and Trader Joe's. I parked up by Traders and left the kids in the car whilst I ran in to Michael's. I "needed" some cording so we could make some essential oil diffusing necklaces.... someday.... Lord only knows when I will have time to do that.... but we have what we need should a sudden blizzard ensue and we were stuck in the house for a month or so. On my return to the car the kids indicated I could go to Trader's alone too... alrighty then! Much quicker that way! I sped in and picked up one or two things ( soup, oats, an Orchid plant and some truffles....) I had decided to do our Act of Kindness there today and the Orchid and Truffles were going to be it! :D
Once I'd paid for the items I wondered who I was going to give them to. An idea rather quickly occurred to me as I left the store. A huge line of cars had formed as people were trying to leave and enter the parking lot. I spotted one car with a lady at the wheel. I approached her car tapping on the passenger window and indicating she should lower it! ( Obviously I looked kind and happy, not in the least intimidating!) I passed the flower and the chocs through the window and wished her a Merry Christmas and saying she had been chosen to receive our random act of kindness! She was so happy and wished me a Merry Christmas and a big Thank You! I was pretty happy with it and hurried back to the car... where I twisted my ankle and fell in a wet heap in the parking lot right by my van. I was thinking the kids would wonder what the heck happened so I suddenly POPPED back up in a sort of TA DAH movement knowing also that the woman I had just "blessed" was watching too!! I'm such an arse!! Ah well.... no lasting harm done!!
Last trip before the ortho was Target and we all went into the store. Can you believe we were in and out in less than 15 minutes COMPLETE with all of Jack's purchases?? :D The dollar section comes in mighty handy when you have only 8 dollars to spend!! Quick stop at the ortho for a minor repair and then home to attempt a clean up, nurse a toddler, read some book and make a rather delicious dinner that everyone loves! Jack had FIVE helpings ( though he IS a growing boy! )
Only a couple of days to go now! I hope this blog has inspired you to maybe try an act or two of your own. I forgot to say as I was checking out of Trader's I explained to the guy behind the counter what we were doing.
"How do you do that?" he asked.
"Um....???" I didn't explain.
"I mean, is it some sort of organization???" he went on.
I told him that anyone can perform an act of kindness at any time! They don't have to cost money, they don't even need to be much of an effort. Return someone's shopping cart for them. Help carry groceries. Shovel someone's sidewalk. Bake a neighbor some cookies. ... it's easy and honestly, you'll feel so good about it, you'll find opportunities for kindness everywhere you turn after a while. Try it, it's catchy!
Anyway, we left at 12:30 and we live a good 15 minutes from the stores. We went first to the grocery store to buy candies to decorate our gingerbread houses (if and when I ever get around to baking the things!) .... the kids had great fun selecting candies to decorate with and Jack always loves putting the things on the scale and printing out the labels. I remembered back to last year when it was very hard for him to remember three numbers to type in and now he did it with very little trouble. Yay! I let them get whatever they chose without whittling about amount or price. They are sensible and only got what they thought they would need and I really appreciated not having to overly monitor the situation! After the grocery store we headed to the Mall to Michael's and Trader Joe's. I parked up by Traders and left the kids in the car whilst I ran in to Michael's. I "needed" some cording so we could make some essential oil diffusing necklaces.... someday.... Lord only knows when I will have time to do that.... but we have what we need should a sudden blizzard ensue and we were stuck in the house for a month or so. On my return to the car the kids indicated I could go to Trader's alone too... alrighty then! Much quicker that way! I sped in and picked up one or two things ( soup, oats, an Orchid plant and some truffles....) I had decided to do our Act of Kindness there today and the Orchid and Truffles were going to be it! :D
 |
| Trader's have lovely flowers and I considered a bouquet but settled on a plant, something more lasting. I figured if the recipient didn't want the hassle of keeping an orchid then they could always pass it on to someone else, doubling the act of kindness! :D |
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| The orchid and truffles....! Looks fancy, no? :D |
Once I'd paid for the items I wondered who I was going to give them to. An idea rather quickly occurred to me as I left the store. A huge line of cars had formed as people were trying to leave and enter the parking lot. I spotted one car with a lady at the wheel. I approached her car tapping on the passenger window and indicating she should lower it! ( Obviously I looked kind and happy, not in the least intimidating!) I passed the flower and the chocs through the window and wished her a Merry Christmas and saying she had been chosen to receive our random act of kindness! She was so happy and wished me a Merry Christmas and a big Thank You! I was pretty happy with it and hurried back to the car... where I twisted my ankle and fell in a wet heap in the parking lot right by my van. I was thinking the kids would wonder what the heck happened so I suddenly POPPED back up in a sort of TA DAH movement knowing also that the woman I had just "blessed" was watching too!! I'm such an arse!! Ah well.... no lasting harm done!!
Last trip before the ortho was Target and we all went into the store. Can you believe we were in and out in less than 15 minutes COMPLETE with all of Jack's purchases?? :D The dollar section comes in mighty handy when you have only 8 dollars to spend!! Quick stop at the ortho for a minor repair and then home to attempt a clean up, nurse a toddler, read some book and make a rather delicious dinner that everyone loves! Jack had FIVE helpings ( though he IS a growing boy! )
Only a couple of days to go now! I hope this blog has inspired you to maybe try an act or two of your own. I forgot to say as I was checking out of Trader's I explained to the guy behind the counter what we were doing.
"How do you do that?" he asked.
"Um....???" I didn't explain.
"I mean, is it some sort of organization???" he went on.
I told him that anyone can perform an act of kindness at any time! They don't have to cost money, they don't even need to be much of an effort. Return someone's shopping cart for them. Help carry groceries. Shovel someone's sidewalk. Bake a neighbor some cookies. ... it's easy and honestly, you'll feel so good about it, you'll find opportunities for kindness everywhere you turn after a while. Try it, it's catchy!
Sunday, December 21
Day 21 for the birds
Today was.... um.... interesting...! I may or may not have defied the universe and went ahead to take three kids and three dogs to the dog park resulting in a chipped tooth for me and some poor guy taking a tumble and almost ALMOST rolling into the water at the park. Not to mention a little girl who cried THE ENTIRE way around, the mud the blood and the beer. ... well the mud anyway. I tried to salvage the morning by taking us all to Runza for hot chocolate only to find out that the main part was closed and only the drive through was open and I'd come in the wrong angle for the drive through.... blah blah blah... we went to U Stop for cocoa instead and headed home pretty beat. Hubby had arrived before me having been out with his bud. He'd lit the fire and put on the kettle for tea. He also provided me with chocolate and told me he couldn't see the chip in my tooth. He is a Good Man. The day improved as I warmed my cockles, read my book and nursed my youngest. Hubby later took Jess out to do a little more shopping and they stopped by the bird seed store on the way home where Jess did our Act of Kindness today.
We love the heck out of this store, the people are lovely and though the seed is more expensive, it's really good quality and fresh. We've never had one complaint from the birds! (hah!) I love to feed the birds, I find it so satisfying. They come right to our front window and we can watch them for hours. Anyway, Jess just gave the money to the man behind the counter and explained it was an act of kindness and she wanted to pay for the next person's seed... or at least some of it! Anyone who feeds the birds is good people in my book!
We love the heck out of this store, the people are lovely and though the seed is more expensive, it's really good quality and fresh. We've never had one complaint from the birds! (hah!) I love to feed the birds, I find it so satisfying. They come right to our front window and we can watch them for hours. Anyway, Jess just gave the money to the man behind the counter and explained it was an act of kindness and she wanted to pay for the next person's seed... or at least some of it! Anyone who feeds the birds is good people in my book!
After I took some time to finish wrapping my gifts ( did ya hear that?? I'm DONE wrapping gifts and it's only the 21st!! ) and a light dinner, hubby and I went out for a drive to look at the Christmas lights. We figured out a few years ago that the kids don't really enjoy it so it is pointless to make them come. They are happy to stay home and wait for our return. Even Millie, when I said Daddy and I were going for a ride at first said "ME!!" so I said, "Ok! You want to come for a ride to look at Christmas lights??" ... and she said "NooooOOOO!" LOL!! She hung home with the big kids instead! Hubby and I toured the lights and swung by Starbucks for the obligatory Peppermint Mocha and got to spend a little time enjoying the music and the scenery.
Now... Hook is playing on Netflix, the kids are sleeping and I am going to do a couple of last minute bits and pieces and it's off to bed for me too! Night!
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